


Combative

by murdergatsby



Category: American Gods (TV)
Genre: Accidental Confessions of Sexiness, Crack, Everyone Needs Nap, Exaggerated Characteristics, Humor, M/M, No Spoilers, Pointless Aggression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-04 04:37:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10983519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murdergatsby/pseuds/murdergatsby
Summary: Mad Sweeney accidentally calls Shadow "sexy."As an insult, of course.





	Combative

**Author's Note:**

> I've been watching American Gods, and it's already got me with one foot in a new trash-bin. MadMoon is a fun ship and, so far, I'm all about it.
> 
> I want to thank [GalenErso](https://twitter.com/GalenErso) for helping me find the proper words for this interaction, and [Maelipie](http://maelipie.tumblr.com/) and [veefromthesun](http://archiveofourown.org/users/veefromthesun/) for being so supportive in the concept.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this silly little fic~

The bar was lousy with chatter, but it didn’t seem to help drown out the sound of Mad Sweeney’s voice. _Nothing ever did._

He wasn’t shouting- his voice was hardly raised- but his words swallowed up what little atmosphere the bar had. Shadow sat opposite him, while he lorded over the table with hands gripped into either corner. Shadow had a full glass pressed to his mouth and it had felt like hours since he’d tasted the contents, but anytime he moved to sip it Sweeney would bounce the table up and risk him knocking it into his teeth. It wasn’t worth it.

So, Shadow merely rested the rim against his bottom lip and stared into the scruffy face of this overly combative man, who simply could not find it in him to leave him alone.

Shadow understood him- Mad Sweeney wasn’t the first man he’d met that tried to start a fight with the first person to look at him twice. However, Shadow could clearly remember not having _ever_ looked Mad Sweeney’s way; while he understood _what_ he was, he couldn’t exactly fathom the _“Why me?”_ of it all.

Despite Mad Sweeney’s insulting vocabulary, Shadow remained stoic and calm. His brow was knotted tight, but his expression otherwise read completely flat- dead to the inconvenience that was the Irishman’s company. To be anything else would count as a win for Sweeney, and Shadow would hate to give him the satisfaction of that. The healing, but still aching, bruises of his face helped him remember what Sweeney was like when he even got tablespoon of a victory.

Thankfully, Shadow had worked out a pretty stunning inner filtration system. He was able to miss the details of the things Sweeney was saying, and that was able to help him stay grounded. He knew that, at some point, Sweeney had grown tired of bashing the topic of Shadow’s late wife’s sexual habits, and he had moved on to insulting things he was less ‘confident’ about. That also helped Shadow stay grounded- knowing that Sweeney was spiraling himself out with hyped-up anger.

Nearly all of what Sweeney’s mouth had spat that night went in one ear, and out the other, but one phrase managed to cut through the redundancy of it all.

_“Are you even hearing me, you sexy fecker?”_

Shadow’s right eyebrow reacted faster than he did- spiking upwards with equal parts curiosity and surprise. His eyes lifted slowly from their chosen zone-out-spot between Sweeney’s nose and cheeks, until they met with his eyes.

They were stuck wide, and his mouth was miraculously shut. He had heard himself just as clearly as Shadow had.

“What?” Shadow asked. His voice was gruff, but it wasn’t anywhere close to a tone he’d call aggressive. It was a knee-jerk reaction at best.

Sweeney issued a small hiccup of a noise from his pursed lips, as if he didn’t understand the question; a “Mm?” and nothing more.

Shadow was almost more shocked by his ability to be silent than his previous statement, but still he prodded.

“What did you just call me?”

Mad Sweeney looked identical to a deer caught in the headlights of a moving car; the vehicle had stopped and still he stood, with a blush rising to his cheeks, hoping that fate would allow it to roll over him anyway. He felt as if every eye in the bar was suddenly on him and, while he usually didn’t mind the attention, this instant made him feel throttled by it.

Shadow was the only one looking at him, in reality, but the eye contact he was supporting made up for the difference. Shadow turned his head and let his jaw slowly fall open while he waited- further shocked, further curious. He was all eyebrows and expectations.

Without more warning than a low dart of his eyes, Sweeney reached across the table and snatched Shadow’s glass from his hand. Shadow had hardly readjusted his fist by the time Sweeney gulped its contents to nothing, and slammed the glass back down against the wood of the table.

“I called you,” He began, before placing his hands back on the edge of the table and shoving it back into Shadow’s abdomen, “A _fecker._ ”

Shadow made a soft, involuntary, _oof_ sound. He reached to protect his assaulted stomach, as if placing an arm there _now_ would protect him from what had already happened.

Sweeney scoffed at him, shaking his head as if Shadow had been the one to be outrageous. He walked from the table, muttering to himself and kicking at the air before his feet, while Shadow looked after him.

_Confused_ just didn’t cut it. Shadow let his head fall against the wood of the table as soon as he was sure Sweeney was aiming to leave the bar entirely. He was finally to be alone, and he couldn’t even enjoy his drink.

**Author's Note:**

> I have also converted this story into a comic script, which miss maelipie has agreed to make the real deal! I'll be posting a link here as soon as it's available, but if you're interested in this ship I recommend giving them a follow on either their [MadMoon tumblr](https://madmooncrack.tumblr.com/) or their [twitter](https://twitter.com/maelipie)!
> 
>   
>    
> 


End file.
